Wife abuse is a serious problem in our society which has not received adequate attention in the literature. It has been hypothesized that wife abusers lack adequate social skills and resort to violence when frustrated by their wives. However, this hypothesis has not been subject to empirical evaluation. This study is designed to systematically test this hypothesis, and to systematically assess abusive husbands and their wives on a variety of dimensions. Thirty couples with a history of wife abuse will be compared with 30 normal control couples on a variety of self-report, physiological, and behavioral measures. Each couple will be observed while engaging in a dyadic problem solving interaction. In addition, positive and negative assertive skill of husbands and wives will be assessed, as will the extent of alcohol abuse by abusive husbands.